Confidence catapults Vazquez

Cooper's ideas right ship for White Sox right-hander

Vazquez's confidence returns for Sox

CLEVELAND — Javier Vazquez was the ace of the Montreal pitching staff at 24, highly regarded enough to be involved in a deal involving five-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson.

Despite those credentials, Vazquez found himself lacking one ingredient that has returned gradually: confidence.

"When you're successful, confidence plays a big role," Vazquez said. "Sometimes after 2004, my confidence really wasn't there. It took me a little bit to get it back where it used to be, and I'm at that point now."

Thanks to 15 victories in 2007 and an impressive spring training, Vazquez will have plenty of self-assurance when he takes the mound Wednesday night as the White Sox face the Indians. He was in the running to be the Sox's Opening Day starter until the team decided to go with veteran Mark Buehrle, who was not involved in the decision in Monday's 10-8 loss to the Indians.

Vazquez, 31, was acquired from Arizona before the 2006 season and struggled as the Sox's fifth starter. Pitching coach Don Cooper initially was reluctant to alter Vazquez's style because of his resume with Montreal, as well as the success he enjoyed anchoring Arizona's staff in 2005. He also pitched for Puerto Rico in the first World Baseball Classic during his first spring with the Sox.

"He did OK early," Cooper said. "But he didn't do any of the things I personally believed in. Then it went bad, but I felt he knew what he was doing and could come out of it. But it came to a point where we had to talk about this."

The chat occurred in Herm Schneider's training room between starts and shortly after the July 31 trading deadline. There had been widespread speculation the Sox were willing to deal Vazquez or Freddy Garcia for a reliever and a pitching prospect.

"We had to do something and went to work on it right away. It paid dividends almost immediately."

The first return came in the form of a 13-strikeout effort at Toronto in August 2006, followed by the 100th victory of his career, over the New York Yankees, the team he pitched for in 2004 when his confidence started to waver.

His ERA over the final two months of 2006 was 3.61, compared with his 5.07 first-half mark.

While the rest of the rotation struggled with a lack of run support and a shoddy bullpen in 2007, Vazquez managed those 15 victories with a 3.78 ERA.

He was 4-0 with a 2.17 ERA over his final four starts, making the three-year, $34.5 million contract extension that started this season look like a bargain in today's market. He is 115-113 lifetime.

Part of Vazquez's reasoning for staying in Chicago and not exploring free agency was his comfort with the Sox and his restored confidence.

"I struggled at the beginning, but I found my rhythm and my confidence kicked in," he said. "Working with Coop and trying new things paid off."